Don Trudeau of the Selkirk First Nation says there's more to building relationships between the mining industry and first nations than signing papers.

If companies are genuinely interested in working with aboriginal governments on mining initiatives, they should take the time to learn the ways of the aboriginal people, Trudeau said during the Yukon First Nations Mineral Exploration and Development Symposium.

He suggested understanding the aboriginal values and traditions will make a meeting of the minds that much easier.

Mining companies, he told delegates during the wrap-up session of the two-day conference, shouldn't just focus on the relationship with the chief and council of the first nation's development corporation.

They need to look beyond the corporate structure and get to know the membership, because ultimately it will be the membership as a whole which will make the decision, not the chief and council or the development corporation, he said.

'Come to understand the people, and it may take a little time, but the people are going to make the decision based on their beliefs and tradition,' Trudeau said. 'And if the proponent really wants to do business, then he is going to learn the people he is going to do business with.'

The second annual symposium was attended by aboriginal representatives from across the North, senior and junior mining executives, prospectors, consultants, lawyers and government employees whose departments interact with the industry.

Indications from the mining community are pointing to another year of renewed growth in the mineral exploration sector.

Energy, Mines and Resources Minister Archie Lang predicted this past winter upon his return from Vancouver's mining conference that exploration expenditures in the territory will likely double to $26 million or more this year.

Deborah Dupont, co-ordinator of this year's symposium, said there were 200 delegates registered, up from about 120 last year.

She too thinks is a reflection in the renewed interest in mineral exploration in the Yukon.

'It was just so busy,' she said of the opening day, adding that Kennecott Exploration, a North American company with property south of Dawson, sent a representative from its office in Salt Lake City, Utah. There was another mining representative up from Tucson, Ariz.

'I was surprised.'

It was suggested during the wrap-up session that both first nations and mining companies begin the process of moving forward with initiatives, so that at the next symposium there is something tangible to hold up, and not just more talk of what needs to be done.

It would be beneficial, for instance, to develop a baseline benefits agreement that first nations and companies could use as a starting point when negotiating job and other economic benefits from mining initiatives, suggested Whitehorse lawyer Rod Snow.

Rather than starting from a blank page, Snow told delegates, it's better to start with something and then add or subtract items as the parties see fit.

There are living examples of successful Impact Benefit Agreements that could be studied and used to build a base model for the territory, it was suggested.

John Burdek, director of first nation initiatives at Yukon College, said it would be beneficial to explore partnerships in education and training to increase efficiency in delivering training initiatives and reducing costs.

Furthermore, added Harlan Meade, president of Expatriate Resources Ltd., it should be the goal and commitment of everybody involved to ensure each and every graduate of those training programs has a job when they're done.

It would also be beneficial to gather a library of examples showing how partnerships between first nations and industry can be successful and prosperous, said Carl Sidney of the Teslin Tlingit Council.

Sidney told delegates there is still apprehension among first nations regarding relationships with industry.

Aboriginal Yukoners, he said, have been taken advantage of in the past.

While they were instrumental as guides in the early days of exploration by mining companies, employment opportunities never amounted to much more than the labour intensive and more menial tasks, he said.

Sidney recalled the pride among the employees of the Se Dena Hes mine near Watson Lake while it was operational in the 1990s. It was a pride that was drowned by alcohol and drugs when the operation shut down suddenly and mortgages couldn't be paid.

Showing examples of the successful partnerships of today will help reduce the lingering apprehension, he suggested.

As well, Sidney emphasized, training initiatives need to look beyond the life of a project. They need to provide employees with marketable skills that can be applied elsewhere at the end of project.

If a company needs to train qualified first aid personnel, those personnel should be trained to a paramedic level so that they can find work after a mine closes down, he said.